Matrix delivery mechanism for slug casting machines



April 12, 1932. v 5. J. SENNETT 1,853,288

MATRIX DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed July 20, 19294 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 12, 1932. s. J. SENNETT 1,853,288

MATRIX DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed July 20, 19294 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 12, 1932. 5. J. SENNETT MATRIX DELIVERY MECHANISMFOR SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed July 20, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m, J 8 afi/MX/ v 2/ W A Z Z w 0 NU April 12, 1932. sQJ. SENNETT 1,853,288

MATRIX DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed July 20, 19294 Sheets-Sheei 4 Patented Apr. 12, 1932' until-an; STATES.

PAT EN 'I' @FFI-CEI syrvnssrnn a; seminar, or onrcaeo, ILLINOIS,nssrenonro "agreement-compan OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A oonron'n'rron orILLINOIS MAT nix" DELIVERY Mnomrmsrr ron sane" ons'rnv'e mofimns-Application' filed. July 20, 1929.- Serial No. 379,702:

This invention relates to linotype machines and more particularly tomatrix delivery mechanism by which the matrices or mats are deliveredinto the assembler of such a machine.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a device fordelivering'the matrices directly into the assembler in such manner at-toprevent transpositions and other difficultiesheretofore experienced inthe transfer of the mats in linotype'machines such as are ordinarilyused inrnewspaper plants.

A further object is-the provision of an end-ofthedelivermechanism,illustratin Y 5% the means by which the mats are positivelydelivered into the assembler;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view taken on the line 3 3 ofFig.2-andillustrating the drive for the star wheel by which-the mats aretransferred into the assembler, the'view illu'strating also the meansemployed for disconnecting said star wheel from the power and means" formanually turning said star wheel when so disconnected Fig. 4 is anelevational view of certain parts ofthe delivery-mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a detail plan and sectional view of the upper pulley andassociated parts'of the delivery mechanism; and

Fig. 6 is adetailview of-the main driving pulleys-shown at thelowerright in Fig; l.

The machine shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration is forthe most part a standard linotype machine such as is used in'largenewspaper establishments and com-' prises a keyboard 21, the keys 22 ofwhi'c are adapted to controlthe release of matrices from guideways 23 ofa magazine generally indicated at 24,-this part of the mechanism beingof ordinary and wellkno'wn construction and therefore not being.illustrated in? detail. p

The matrices, or mats as they are commonly called, are directed, whenreleased,onto a belt 25 which runs over" an upperflpull'ey 26 and lowerpulley. 27', the upper pull'e'y'being driven from a suitable source ofpowerby means of a belt28 taking over a pulley 29 on a power shaft 31and a pulley 32 on a shaft 33 which carries the pulley 26 pre, viouslymentioned. As-clearly shown in Fig; 5, the shaft 33 is journaled inathreaded colf lar 34 which has a flange 35 at one 'end thereof andcarries a nut 36 which serves to clamp said collar onto'a frame part 37having an aperture 38 through which said-collar is, disposed, the flange35 and nut 36 hearing against the opposite sides of said frame part 37The pulleys 26 and 32 are respectively secured to the shaft 33bymea-ns'of set screws 39 and 41. The lower pulley 27 in the pres-- entinstance is loosely mountedon a shaft 42 which is journaled in abearing, 43 in a frame part Hand carries at its inner end fixedand loosepulleys indicated respectively by the reference characters 45 and 46,these parts being shown in Fig. 3. v y 1 A star wheel 47 is providedbeyond the lower pulley 27 for the purpose of transferring the mats,indicated by the reference character 48 in Fig. 2, into an assemblermechanism shown at 49 in Figs. 1 and 2. As is well known, the-row ofmats assembledin this way is used to make a line slug and the slugs arelater arranged in page f0rin,.but 0 this part of the machine is notillustrated since it forms no part of the presentinvention. v

Referringto Figs. 3 and 4, it Will'be noted that the star wheel 47 .ismounted ona shaft 9 gears consists of a gear 53 on said shaft: 7

meshing with an intermediate gear 54 loosely mounted on a fixed stud andmeshing with a gear 56 which is fixed upon the shaft 42.

A belt 57 extending between a pulley 58 fixed upon the drive shaft 31and pulleys and 46 upon the shaft 42 serves to drive said shaft, itbeing understood that the shaft is driven when the belt is upon thefixed pulley 45 and that when it is desired to disconnect the star wheel47 from the drive, said belt may be shifted to the idle pulley 46, asshown in Fig. 3. A shifter mechanism is provided for this purposeconsisting of a shaft 59 slidably mounted in a bearing 61 and having atone end a fork 62 through which the belt 57 runs, the opposite end ofsaid shaft being provided with a hand wheel 63 by means of which it maybe manually shifted from one position to the other as occasion mayrequire. A hand Wheel 64 is also provided upon the shaft 42 so that thelatter may be manually rotated to operate the star wheel 47 when saidstar wheel is disconnected from the power in the manner ust described.

In standard machines of this character, the pulley 27 forms the lowerterminal of the course of travel of the belt 25, the mats beingpermitted to slide by gravity from the position of this pulley, as shownin the drawings, onto the star wheel 47 by means of which they aretransferred into the assembler. A great deal of difiiculty has beenexperienced in the practical operation of the machines by reason oftransposition of the mats due to the rather long, free fall from thepoint of leaving the belt to the point of contact with the star wheel.Such transpositions have been the cause not only of many inaccuraciesbut have resulted in a considerable loss of time, which, as will bereadily recognized, is very serious in the production of newspaperswhere the time element is highly important. My invention overcomes thisdifficulty by providing positive delivery of the mats to the star wheelby which they are transferred into the assembler. This is accomplishedby ex tending the course of travel of the conveyor belt 25 beyond thepulley 27 to a point adjacent the star wheel 47 so that the mats areengaged by said star wheel before leaving the conveyor belt, as isclearly shown in Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, a roller 65 isprovided just above and to the right of the star wheel, be-

ing mounted upon a stud 66 supported in the frame 44 and equipped withanti-friction devices 67 to facilitate the rotation of said roller. Aguide 68 is provided between the roller 65 and the pulley 27 and saidguide and roller are so located as to guide the belt in a proper coursebeyond the pulley 27 and back into contact with the under side of saidpulley, as is shown in Fig. 2. It will of course be evident that otherequivalent means might be provided for extending the travel of the beltsuch, for example, as placing an auxiliary belt over the regular one,with the auxiliary belt extended as is the single belt shown in theembodiment of the invention which I have chosen for purposes ofillustration.

In order to provide a positive drive both for the conveyor belt 25 andthe star wheel 47, I employ means for driving the upper pulley 26 as thepositive drive for the belt, leaving the lower pulley 27 idle andproviding a separate drive for the star wheel which can be connected ordisconnected as desired by the mechanism shown in Fig. 3. Both thesedrives may be taken from a common power shaft if desired, as the shaft,31, although it will be understood that any suitable source of power maybe utilized according to the type of machine to which the invention isapplied.

An important feature of the invention is that the improvement may beapplied to existing machines with very slight change in the mechanismand at very slight cost either as to parts required or time necessary toinstall them. In the embodiment shown, for example, the device is sodesigned that the usual dowel pin holes in frame 44 may be used forattaching roller 65 so that the improvement may be applied directly to astandard machine without the need of drilling any special holes toeffect its attachment. This is due to the fact that under the presentpractice, the guide unit which is interposed between star wheel 47 andlower pulley 27, consists of inner and outer guide rails 69 and 70 (Fig.3), and a center piece (not shown), which is similar in shape to guide68, with the difference that it is not cut away to provide space forroller 65. This guide unit is attached to the face of the machine by athreaded stud 71, an upper dowel pin 72, and a lower dowel pin, which,in the embodiment shown, is represented by stud 66 which carries roller65. Under the present practice the frame part 44 of standard machines isformed with holes which are spaced to receive stud 66, threaded stud 71,and dowel pin 72. It is evident, therefore, that the invention may beemployed in the standard guide unit which is now especially designed forlinotype machines by merely changing slightly the shape of the centerpiece to make room for roller 65 which is then mounted directly upon thelower dowel pin. This unit may then be applied to the machine by makinguse of the holes which have already been drilled to receive the regularguide unit.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, or

sacrificing all of its material advantages, the constructionhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising aninclined conveyor adapted to receive the matrices when released and arotary transfer device for delivering said matrices into the assemblermechanism, the lower end of said conveyor being extended to a pointsufficient near said transfer device to bring the matrices intoengagement therewith before they leave the conveyor.

2. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising aninclined conveyor adapted to receive the matrices when released and atransfer device comprising a star wheel for delivering said matricesinto the assembler mechanism, the lower end of said conveyor beingextended to a point sufliciently near said star wheel to bring thematrices into engagement therewith before they leave the conveyor.

3. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising aninclined conveyor adapted to receive the matrices when released and arotary transfer device for delivering said matrices into the assemblermechanism, the conveyor comprising upper and lower pulleys, a conveyorbeltrunning over said pulleys, the lower pulley being disposed asubstantial distance from said transfer device, and a. roller beyondsaid lower pulley and adjacent said transfer device, the

' belt being directed over saidroller to thererices into engagementtherewith before they leave the conveyor.

4. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising a conveyoradapted to receive the matrices when released and a rotary transferdevice for delivering said matrices into the assembler mechanism, theconveyor comprising an inclined carrier belt beneath said magazine ontowhich the matrices are adapted tobe de livered when released from saidmagazine, upper and lower pulleys over which said belt is directed andmeans for extending the course of travel of the belt beyond the lowerpulley to a point in close proximity to said transfer device.

5. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices from saidmagazine, a gravity delivery mechanism comprising a carrier beltdisposed beneath said magazine and adapted to receive the matrices whenreleased from said magazine, upper and lower pulleys over which saidbelt runs, a rotary transfer device beyond the lower pulley adaptedtoreceive the matrices from said belt and to transfer the same into saidassembler mechanisnnsaid belt being extended to a point suficiently nearsaid transfer device to positively deliver the matrices thereto beforethey leave the belt, a source of power, means for driving the upperpulley from said source of power and means for driving said rotarytransfer device also from said source of power, the lower pulley beingidle.

6. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising aninclined conveyor belt adapted to receive the matrices when released anda rotary transfer. device for delivering said matrices into theassembler mechanism, the lower end of said belt being positionedsufficiently near said transfer device to bring the matrices intoengagement therewith before they leave the conveyor.

7. In a linotype machine the combination of a matrix magazine, anassembler mechanism, means for releasing the matrices in desired orderfrom said magazine, and gravity delivery mechanism comprising aninclined conveyor adapted to receive the matrices when released and arotary transfer device comprising a star wheel for delivering saidmatrices into the assembler mechanism, said conveyor comprising upperand lower Plll'. leys, a conveyor belt running over said pulleys, thelower pulley being disposed a substantial distance from said star wheel,and a roller beyond said lower pulley and adjacent said star wheel, thebelt being directed over said roller to thereby extend the conveyor to apoint sufficiently near said star. wheel to bring the matrices intoengagement therewith before they leave the conveyor.

8. In a linotype machine the combination posed a substantial distancefrom said transfer device, a guide unit positioned between said transferdevice and the lower pulley, said unit including a center piece and apair of guide rails positioned on either side of the 5 center piece andin alignment with the conveyor belt, dowel pins for locating, said guideunit on the face plate of the machine, one of said pins being disposedadjacent said transfer device, and a roller on said last mentioned pin,said belt being directed over said roller to thereby extend the conveyorto a point sufficiently near said transfer device to ring the matricesinto engagement therewith before they leave the conveyor. In Witnesswhereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

SYLVESTER J. SENNETT.

